The Mystery of Sinister Scarecrow - M. V. Carey [31]
a ed
e fo
f r
o ward
d and pu
p t
t hi
h s
i
s elb
l o
b w
o s
s on
o the
h desk
s .
. “We cou
o ld
l
d dis
i c
s uss
s
s thi
h s
i
s case
s
fo
f r
o ever and
d never reach
c
h a con
o clu
l si
s o
i n
o ,”
, he
h said
i .
. “We sim
i pl
p y
l don
o ’t know
o enou
o gh.
h
. I
su
s ggest
s we try anot
o he
h r
r app
p r
p oa
o ch.
h
. Le
L tit
i ia
i Radf
d o
f r
o d is
i
s the
h vic
i tim
i of
o
f the
h attac
a ks.
s
. By now
o
sh
s e
h must
s ha
h ve recov
o ere
r d fr
f om
o he
h r hy
h st
s eria
i of
o
f la
l st
s evenin
i g.
. I thi
h n
i k we sh
s o
h u
o ld
l qu
q est
s io
i n
o
he
h r abo
b u
o t pe
p op
o l
p e
l who
h
o mig
i ht
h ha
h ve a
reaso
s n
o t
o
o u
ps
p e
s t he
h r.”
.
“She
h ’l
’ l
l
l get h
y
h st
s eric
i al
l al
a l
l
l ov
o er again
i ,”
, warned
e
d Pete.
Bob
o
b nod
o ded
e .
. “She
h thi
h n
i ks
s sh
s e
h ’s
’
s a nic
i e,
, lo
l v
o abl
b e
l la
l dy.
. Ca
C n
n sh
s e
h fa
f ce the
h fa
f ct t
ha
h t o
t
o he
h r
peop
o l
p e
l mig
i ht
h dis
i l
s i
l k
i e he
h r?”
“Well
l ,
l
, sh
s e
h can’t
’
t he
h lp
l
p know
o in
i g tha
h t at le
l a
e s
a t
s on
o e pe
p rs
r o
s n
o is
i
s again
i st
s he
h r — the
sc
s arecrow
o !”
! Jupe
p po
p i
o n
i ted ou
o t.
. “I thi
h n
i k we sh
s ou
o ld
l talk
l to
o he
h r.
. Le
L t’s
’
s go
o now
o ,
, whil
i e
l Aunt
Mathi
h l
i d
l a is
i
s marketin
i g.”
.
“Goo
o d
o thi
h n
i k
n in
i g,”
, sa
s id
i P
ete.
. “Aun
u t
n Mathi
h l
i d
l a
a w
il
i l
l
l p
u
p t
u
t u
s
u
s t
o
t
o w
o
w r
o k
r
k i
f
i
f s
h
s e
h
e s
e
s e
e s
e
s u
s
u !
s ”
!
In a fe
f w mi
m n
i utes
s the
h bo
b y
o s
s were pe
p dali
l n
i g up
u
p the
h Co
C a
o st
s Hig
i hw
h ay on
o the
h ir
i bi
b k
i es.
Letitia Radford answered the door when they rang the bell at the Radford house. As usual, she was carefully dressed. But she looked very pale, and there were dark shadows under her eyes.
“We wondered if we could talk with you, Miss Radford,” said Jupiter.
“Well, I suppose. If you must. I’m awfully tired. The fire chief was here until late last night. He was quite angry with me.” She grimaced. “He thinks there are better ways to get rid of ants than setting a house on fire.”
Jupe nodded but didn’t say anything. He agreed with the fire chief.
“I didn’t get much sleep anyway. Mrs. Chumley wasn’t feeling well last night.
She’s in pain some of the time, and she doesn’t like to be alone then. I was sitting up with her. In fact, I was with her just now when the doorbell rang.”
“Would you like me to sit with her for a while?” Bob offered. “You could probably use a break.”
Letitia smiled wanly. “That would be nice. She’s in her sitting room. Just knock before you go in.”
Bob went toward the back of the house, to Mrs. Chumley’s suite, and Letitia led the other two boys into the living room. She sat down on a sofa and motioned the boys to take chairs.
“We wanted to talk to you about people you have known,” Jupe said. “Can you think of anyone who might have a grudge against you?”
“A grudge against me?”
Jupe nodded. “What about Gerhart Malz?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Gerry’s practically a member of the household. Besides, he only cares about his paintings.”
“Perhaps someone who works here has a grudge.”
“You can’t mean Burroughs!” said Letitia.
“Oh no! We’re quite sure that Burroughs is not the scarecrow. But couldn’t there be someone else? How about the gardeners? I understand they come twice a week.
And what about the pool man? Doesn’t he come regularly, too?”
“Twice a week,” said Letitia. “But why should he dislike me? I don’t really know him. He’s a student at U.C.L.A., I understand. One of those sun-bronzed boys who run around without a shirt.”
“A young man?” Jupe looked startled.
“Of course. I said he was a student, didn’t I?